Senior PHP Backend Architect: Scalable APIs & Systems

ATS Client; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

ATS Client is seeking a Senior-Level Backend PHP Developer to join the engineering team in Johannesburg. You will design, implement and maintain scalable PHP back‑end services and RESTful APIs, while mentoring mid and junior developers and supporting CI/CD processes.

You should have 6+ years in PHP, strong OOP/MVC, Laravel experience, advanced MySQL skills, and familiarity with Git, Docker, and cloud platforms. A robust, secure architecture mindset is essential.

Qualifications

• 6+ years' professional experience in PHP development.
• Strong OOP and MVC understanding.
• Experience with Laravel or similar PHP frameworks.
• Advanced MySQL skills and query optimisation.
• Experience with Git and API development (JSON/XML).
• Experience mentoring and conducting code reviews.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and containerised environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development and maintenance of scalable back‑end services and RESTful APIs.
• Architect secure, high‑performance back‑end systems.
• Collaborate with front‑end teams for seamless integration.
• Write clean, well‑tested code and follow standards.
• Design, manage and optimise MySQL schemas and queries.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across environments.
• Integrate third‑party APIs and data services.
• Mentor mid‑level and junior developers through code reviews.
• Support CI/CD and work with DevOps for deployments.
• Identify bottlenecks and drive scalable improvements.

Skills

Advanced PHP development

SQL & DB optimisation

RESTful API development

Software design principles

Caching strategies

Cloud & container environments

DevOps practices

Unit testing

Mentoring & leadership

Debugging & performance tuning

Education

Tertiary CS/IT related degree

PHP/software development certifications

Tools

Git

Docker

Redis

RabbitMQ

AWS/Azure/GCP

Vue.js / React (basic)

Job description

ATS Client is seeking a Senior-Level Backend PHP Developer to join the engineering team in Johannesburg. You will design, implement and maintain scalable PHP back‑end services and RESTful APIs, while mentoring mid and junior developers and supporting CI/CD processes.

You should have 6+ years in PHP, strong OOP/MVC, Laravel experience, advanced MySQL skills, and familiarity with Git, Docker, and cloud platforms. A robust, secure architecture mindset is essential.